48 Hours a Day

After discovering an abnormality in the fourth ventricle and realizing that the deadline of the quest was approaching, an ordinary player would consider doing something reckless to complete a quest. He would first kill whoever could identify him and then figure out a way to get rid of the shadow in the fourth ventricle. Since the quest was ending soon, the player should have exhausted every possibility of completing the quest.

Considering how Zhang Heng still had more than 120 days to complete the quest, he would not do anything reckless.

He looked at the location of the micro-tracker on the phone again. Although it moved a little, the tracker was still in the factory. Now, it was stuck. Someone must have placed it at a stationary spot.

So he made up his mind and said, “We know too little about those things. We must not waste a rare opportunity. I will enter the factory tonight and see if I can find any useful information, and perhaps, the people they replaced. While I’m at that, I will also bring back the tracker to us.”

“Didn’t you say security there is very tight? Aren’t there cameras everywhere?”

“We have to take some risks now. Otherwise, it’ll be a long time before we find anything useful. The risk is worth it,” Zhang Heng said. “If we keep doing this step by step, they’ll get to mislead us all the time.”

“Then what should I do?” Bai Qing asked positively.

“Help me with homework I need to hand in tomorrow.”

“…”

“Actually, I will need your help with something. I need someone to work with me from the outside and distract them when necessary. You might, however, be putting yourself in danger, and you’ll have to break the law,” Zhang Heng added.

“No problem!”

Bai Qing did not hesitate to say yes. “I will finish the homework for you,” she paused and said.

“Thanks.” Zhang Heng wiped off the makeup from his face. “I’m going to the hospital first, get the sick leave slip, then go back to my house to prepare for tonight. We will meet here at 1 a.m.”

“Okay.”

…

Since they were not going to kill anyone, Zhang Heng left out the Pestilence Bone Bow. His Paris Arrow, however, was with him all the time in his backpack. Since he had the Infinite Building Block, a bow could be assembled during an emergency.

Zhang Heng had also prepared many completed Lego models, including a silenced pistol that was missing a brick. Of course, if possible, he wished he’d never need to use a gun tonight.

The quest set in a modern background allowed Zhang Heng to utilize his Infinite Building Block fully. This Grade-B game item might not be as powerful as the Dreamland of Death, but it had been instrumental in dealing with all kinds of emergencies and circumstances. It was comparable to a Swiss army knife, where it allowed its user to deal with complex and constantly evolving environments.

At 1 in the morning, the two met again in the van.

Zhang Heng had changed into the clothes of a glass factory worker, and if he was noticed, he could pretend to an employee. It would, however, only work if he was at a distance from the person. Once he entered the factory, his Bluetooth headset had to be on all the time to allow him to communicate with Bai Qing.

Upon explaining to Bai Qing what she should do later, Zhang Heng opened the door and walked towards the factory, backpack on his back. He found an empty spot, opened the backpack, and took out a mini drone he just bought, flying it toward the factory once he got the controls set up.

He first flew it to a safe position, carefully inspecting the factory’s surroundings and ensuring that no security cameras were pointing to the sky. He then landed the drone. The glass factory had both night and morning shifts since machines operated 24 hours a day. Other than the huge demand, the silicate within the machines would solidify immediately after it cooled. Having molten glass shards amid the inner workings of a machine would prove hard to remove, and hiring a technician would cost the factory a lot of money.

For that reason, many people worked in the factory at night. After observing for a while, Zhang Heng saw nobody had left the factory except for those moving materials around. Not one person deviated from their respective tasks, looking as if their movements were synchronized. Nobody talked to each other like they were a group of strangers.

Even though they were working hard, the scene was terrifying to watch.

Emphasizing strict discipline, modern society had turned workers into machines. Nonetheless, no matter how hard they tried, no human in this world could work like one.

Upon witnessing the scene, he was certain that the aliens must have replaced the factory workers.

He also discovered that one of the four workshops was not in use, seeing how no workers approached it.

However, the interesting part was a few security guards were guarding it. Not only was the workshop under the shadow of a few security cameras, but guards from the factory would patrol the area every hour. Zhang Heng realized that the three workshops that operated nonstop were probably a cover for whatever they were doing there.

The workshop looked like a monster with a gaping mouth in the dark, waiting to devour all that entered it.

Although Zhang Heng knew right away that it wasn’t a place he was supposed to approach, it was too late to give up on the plan now.

He quickly flew the drone, checking the locations of all the security cameras in the factory. He was also interested in seeing how many security guards were actually there, analyzing their patterns and movements. Half an hour later, the drone ran out of battery, and he had to fly it back to the van.

Bai Qing would be there to grab it, and Zhang Heng could finally be on the move.

Since the front entrance faced the security room, it would be impossible to enter the heavily guarded workshop from there. Not to mention the overkill of cameras that did an excellent job monitoring the place. Fortunately, it was not without its blind spots.

It wouldn’t be possible to know all these if one wasn’t good at the art of surveillance.

Zhang Heng walked ten steps along the wall from the southeast direction, and once he reached the stop, he climbed over the wall and fell behind a cypress tree. Hiding behind the large trunk, he managed to escape the view of the cameras.

Usually, there would be no residential buildings built near the glass factory, thanks to the cacophony it usually produced. Most glass factory workers would have their ears buzzing all day long. It came as welcome news for Zhang Heng, however. Now, he could talk slightly louder to Bai Qing.

After landing in the workshop, Zhang Heng informed Bai Qing, “I’m here.”

“Be careful.” Bai Qing’s voice seemed a little nervous.

Zhang Heng did not act immediately. Instead, he squatted behind the tree and waited for about four seconds before he made a move. Then a forklift drove out of the workshop next to him with the glass on it. Zhang Heng calculated the time in his mind. Around ten seconds later, the forklift had moved halfway, he quickly lowered down his body, moved towards the plant area, and crawled forward.